There are not neat analogies to Western politics for Hong Kong's movement. So many tropes & binaries Westerners take for granted — East vs. West, left vs. right, capitalism vs. socialism, colonialism vs. globalization — exist at once in Hong Kong and not in a straightforward way

That confusion is not limited to how Westerners read us. It's something Hong Kongers grapple with constantly, producing our own ideologies and praxes. Colonialism, capitalism, imperialism, Cold War politics ALL delimit our agency in ways that are astonishingly hard to disentangle

Hong Kong now experiences a postcolonial struggle that's both out of sync with 20th century anti-colonial movements AND prefigures a new form of resistance at the meeting place of 21st century systems of power. There is no precedent, and countless opportunities for this to fail.

The Hong Kong left is marginalized but carries forward a history and praxis as longstanding as HK's history itself, forged from insurgent resistance against British colonialism. Today our analysis extends transnationally to critique HK's place in geopolitics and global capitalism

These Qs have been debated vigorously by left activist and academics in post-handover HK, but are now being forced into our daily lives by state violence & geopolitcal conflict. We're running out of time. We need to bring our analysis into conversation with the world outside HK.

This is why Hong Kong leftists (most visibly in the work of @lausanhk) have begun working transnationally and in English over the last year. We've never asked for unthinking support of HK's movement. We need critical firepower to help us find new pathways of liberation together.

Hong Kong leftists are the ones:
- Opposing Sinophobia and anti-blackness
- Fighting for migrants, queer folks, sex workers
- Demanding labor protections
- Rejecting alliances with Western imperialism
- Calling for transnational movement solidarity
- Rejecting global capitalism

Like the rest of the movement, Hong Kong leftists:
- Demand an end to state violence
- Defend protesters against police brutality
- Call for the release of imprisoned activists
- Demand the genuinely democratic elections promised to Hong Kong by the CCP since 1984

We are articulating this position under immense pressure from innumerable sides. Again, the Hong Kong left occupies a marginal position in local discourse, to say nothing of international left discourse. This is why we need understanding and support. Not more baseless attacks.